The Intersection of the Ryder Cup and IP

Over the years I have posted a few times about IP issues surrounding the Ryder Cup®, so it seems timely to revisit the topic. Back in 2007 I posted “Don’t Use the Ryder Cup® Trademark Without Approval of the PGA of America; They Will Sue!”, containing my vow that once my game finally comes around I will not be joining The PGA of America! Then in 2010 I wrote an article for the UK Patent Office titled “The Ryder Cup®, Intellectual Property, and the IP Ryder Cup”….

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Mickelson Scores Another Patent

At this pace Lefty may surpass Lee Trevino in career patents, a much more valuable stat than career majors! In the past I have written that Phil may have a fallback career as a club designer. This week Callaway was issued USPN 8,272,974 directed to a hybrid with the center of gravity in front of the hosel. Check it out….. Who wants to be the first reporter to stump Phil during Ryder Cup week by asking him for a technical explanation of his most recently issued patent?….

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My Bill Haas Shot; Think I Pulled it Off?

To set the scene a bit, my partner and I are playing Sunday in a season long 2-man team tournament. I believe the match was all square when we get to the 13th hole, a nice par 5. My second shot goes a little off course and rolls down into a pond that is being renovated. The ball rolls right to the bottom of the pond into a section between two large mini-ponds and is sitting nicely on some slick smelly old pond mud. My playing partner quickly pulls out his phone expecting comedy to ensue. I could feel the three guys standing at the top of the pond praying that I would (a) slip and fall, (b) sink in the mud up to my knees, or (c) at least get covered in mud when I hit the shot. To put it another way, no one was rooting for me to hit a good shot. I was about 85 yards from the green and had to get the ball up about 20 feet just to get out of the pond. The mud was slick and I knew if I had any lower body movement I was going to end up on my butt covered in stinky pond mud. I may have closed my eyes as I took a big stiff arm swing trying not to move my feet. Any guesses as to the outcome? Watch the video!….

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My First Driver Fitting

Fitting, who needs fitting? My practice has just been to buy at least 2 or 3 drivers per season and let survival of the fittest play out. In the end I think that it worked fairly well and I have kept the same driver in my bag as my gamer for at least 3 years. While this strategy is fun, especially for a golf equipment geek, it is expensive and always has you looking for the next winning lottery ticket….

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Man that Ball is Tacky, Literally!

How tacky do you prefer your balls? Nike Golf has eyes on allowing golfers to adjust the tackiness of their balls. Today a patent application published as US Pub. No. 20120231899 titled “Golf Ball With Adjustable Tackiness,” which describes the invention as…. I can’t decide whether this is a great idea or a crazy idea; probably because I have images floating around in my head of flies getting stuck to a tacky golf ball, and a really tacky ball landing in a bunker full of soft dry sand….

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A Very Un-PING-Like Design

I almost fell out of my chair this morning when I realized that the following design comes from a Karsten Manufacturing Corporation (aka PING) patent that issued today as USPN D667,068. Aside from the pink driver they haven’t been known for bold designs, just nice classic looking clubs that perform. It would be nice to see them shake things up a bit….. The patent application was just filed in April along with a “request for expedited examination.” Humm, what’s the rush? Perhaps an actual product with….

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